Cassell's dictionary of cookery

has been well scoured with this, dry it with a clean cloth. If spits are wiped clean as soon as the meat is drawn from them, and while they are hot, a very little cleaning will be required. The less the spit is passed through the meat the better ; and before you spit it, joint it properly, especially necks and loins, that the carver may separate them more easily and neatly. Small families have not always the convenience of roasting with a spit, a remark upon roasting with a string may therefore be necessary. Let the cook, before she puts down her meat to the fire, pass a strong skewer through each end of the joint; by this means, when it is about half done, she can with ease turn the bottom upwards ; the gravy will then flow to the part which has been uppermost, and the whole joint will be deliciously gravy-full. A bottle-jack is a valuable instrument for roasting. A Dutch oven is another very convenient utensil for roasting light joints, or warming them up. Roasting should be done by the radiant heat of a clear glowing fire, otherwise the meat is, in fact, baked. All your attention in roasting will be thrown away if you do not take care that your meat, especially beef, has been kept long enough to be tender. Make up your fire in time ; let it be proportioned to the dinner to be dressed, and about three or four inches longer at each end than the thing to be roasted — or the ends of the meat cannot be done nice and brown. A cook must be as careful to proportion her fire to the business she has to do as a chemist — the degree of heat sufficient for dressing the different s«rts of food ought to be attended to with the utmost precision. The fire that is but just sufficient to receive the noble sirloin will parch up a lighter joint. From half an hour to an honr before you begin to roast, prepare the fire by putting a few coals on, which will be sufficiently lighted by the time you wish to make use of your fii-e ; between the bars and on the top put small or large coals, according to the bulk of the joint, and the time the fire is required to be strong ; after which throw the cinders (wetted) at the back. Never put meat down to a burnt-up fire, if you can possibly avoid it ; but should the fire become fierce, place the spit at a considerable distance, and allow a little more time. Preserve the fat by covering it with paper, and then tie it on with fine twine — pins and skewers can by no means be allowed ; they are so many taps to let out the gravy ; besides, the paper often starts from them and catches fire, to the great injuiy of the meat. If the thing to be roasted be thin and tender, the fire should be little and brisk ; when you have a large joint to roast, make up a sound, strong fire, equally good in every part of the grate, or your meat cannot be equally roasted, nor have that uniform colour which constitutes the beauty of good roasting. Give the fixe a good stirring before you lay the joint down ; examine it from time to time while the spit is going round ; keep it clear at the bottom, and take care there are no smoky coals in the front, which will spoil the look and taste of the meat, and hinder it from roasting evenly. When the joint to be roasted is thicker at one end than the other, place the spit slanting, with the thickest part nearest the fire.